Barely three days after masked gunmen abducted the mother of Dr Austin Tam-George, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Patience Tam-George last Saturday night, her whereabouts still remain unknown.
It would be recalled that the 85-year old mother was abducted while on her way back from prayer session in church in George-Ama, Okrika, in Okrika Local Government Area of the state.
The kidnappers, who contacted the family shortly after taking the woman hostage, had demanded N30million ransom, while also complaining of the negative comments of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against them.
In an interview, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tam-George, had pleaded with his mother’s abductors to set her free unconditionally, as the family does not have such amount of money to pay for her release.
The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Okrika Local Government Area, Opuene Atekebo, while reacting to the kidnap of the 85-year mother of Dr Austin Tam-George, further appealed to the people of the area to be security conscious at all times.
He called on chiefs, elders, and youth groups to ensure that security is restored in Okrika.
The CTC chairman also called on the council staff to be patient as efforts to pay salaries are on.
Meanwhile, the South-South Parliamentary Correspondents of Nigeria has condemned the killings in some parts of Rivers State, including the abduction of the mother of the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tam-George.
The Chairman, South-South Parliamentary Correspondents of Nigeria, Allwell Ene, stated this during a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Ene, who is also the chairman of the Rivers State House of Assembly Press Corps, called on Governor Nyesom Wike to extend the ban on commercial motorcyclists, popularly called ‘Okada’ to all the 23 local government areas of the state.